Awkward and Innocent
by Hikari-Chimedekina-Neko
Summary: Cross posted from my tumblr, one-shot, Rin stole Haru's first kiss when they were kids. It took a long time before they, awkwardly and innocently, had their REAL first kiss. Awkward blushy!Rinrin and fluff all around, with a tiny pinch of necessary angst in the middle. Enjoy!


Oh snap! I haven't posted anything on here in years! But then again, any motivation I have to write dropped out. It took getting a tumblr to work up the motivation to start writing again.

Anyways, here my lovely fellow RinHaru fans~! Cute fluffy get together-ish fic! Originally from my tumblr (Username; Broken-synchronicity, go check me out if you can!) I think it's better if you read that one, it has strikes through certain lines, but ff. net doesn't support strike throughs.

Disclaimer: Do you really think I would be writing this if I owned Free! ?

* * *

They were kids when Rin had decided to kiss Haru.

Haru had guessed it was because some girls in class were talking about what their first kiss would be like during break.

Rin had asked him if he'd had his first kiss yet, which was obviously a no. They were walking home together that day (Makoto was home sick and they didn't have swim practice that day), when Rin stopped suddenly, a thoughtful look on his face. Haru turned to look at him, to ask why the other had stopped.

"Ne, Nanase, could you face me for a second?"

"What is i-" He turned around completely, but Haru couldn't finish his question.

Why was Rin's face so close to his? And what was the weird, warm pressure on his lips?

Was Rin _kissing _him?! Haru's brain blanked and he stiffened. He didn't know how to respond to the sudden action. What the hell was Rin doing!? This was so awkward and slightly uncomfortable. Rin realized he wasn't getting a response and pulled away. He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Haru just stared at him in shock and confusion.

"Err.. S-sorry. Ehehe… he…" Rin's face was nearly the same color as his hair. "J-just.. wanted to see why all those girls were so excited about k-kissing… Uh…" Haru just continued to stare. Rin quickly decided to start walking again, passing a still frozen Haru. It took Rin calling out to him to hurry up to snap him out of his daze.

(His heart was racing for some reason. Like he's just sprinted from the swim club to home. And his face feels hot too.

It took Rin leaving for Australia for him to realized it meant he loved Rin.)

* * *

When they meet again, accidentally, at the railroad crossing, on that brisk New Years, Haru didn't know what would happen. They hadn't seen each other in so long, and without contact. Haru hadn't felt this excited about anything for a while (since Rin left, it felt like). And when he saw the redhead there, across the tracks, he couldn't help the overwhelming urge to just… sprint up to him and kiss him, then and there, with everything he could muster (he wouldn't though, because that would be too out of character and might scare Rin).

But, when he started talking to Rin, something was off. Rin was loud, cheerful, always willing to sling his arm around Haru's shoulder. Why was this Rin so nervous? Withdrawn? This wasn't Rin…

"Ne, Haru, how about we race… **to see who's faster**."

Haru never regretted agreeing to anything as much as he did that race.

(He hadn't cried so much since his grandmother died. He was glad for once that he was home alone.

To this day, Haru still wonders what would have happened had he kissed Rin at that time.)

* * *

Patching up their friendship was hard. It was draining (emotionally, physically, mentally) and full of harsh things (feelings, actions, words). But it all worked out in the end, with all the thanks being to Rei. Though Rin was apprehensive at first, as he knew he had been an ass to all of them, they had been able to coax Rin into joining in on many of their misadventures after the tournament.

Today though, it was just the two of them. Rin had invited himself over after hearing that Makoto would be out of town for the day with his family, to keep Haru company. He sat at the table in the sitting room, watching Haru cook a lunch of mackerel and meat. It was a quiet lunch, neither making any real move to have any serious conversation, but it was comfortable. Rin's thoughts began to wander, which usually was never a good thing. His thoughts first turned to how things had gotten to this point, to this domestic setting, and in his musings, his memory pulled forth a very old memory.

Of their first kiss.

This memory caused him to choke on the tea he was sipping, prompting Haru to give him a look.

"What was that?" He questioned as Rin tried to get his breathing under control again. Red faced he finally answered.

"Just… embarrassing memory…" Rin muttered. Haru raised a dark brow.

"You remember when we were kids, when I kissed you?" Rin prompted. When he…?

Oh.

_Oh._

"Yes." Came Haru's quiet response. The shark snorted.

"Pfft, one of the most embarrassing things I've ever done." Rin chuckled, still slightly pink cheeked. "Though, it probably would have been even more so had I actually gotten a reaction out of you." Haru looked slightly indignant, but it was quickly changed to a thoughtful one.

'But, you _had_. And you probably still _would_.' And now that they were on this topic, the dolphin got a thought.

"Have you kissed anyone since?"

"Huh?" Rin turned to give his friend his own questioning look.

"You seem like you'd be really popular at your school. You should have at least been given confessions." Haru explained. Rin clicked his tongue.

"Bah, I was too focused on swimming to care about dating or anything. And I'd never do anything like that with someone I didn't even like. Not romantic at all." Rin flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling for a second. "You totally have though."

"Excuse me?" Ok, where the hell did Rin get that idea?

"You and Makoto! You two are totally dating aren't you? Or you've thought about it at least. With how much you two are practically a married couple, you're not very good at hiding it." Though Rin's tone was teasing, like the smirk on his face, his insides were twisting madly.

_'Go on, say that you're his. He's perfect for you. How could you not love him? He's so good to you, unlike me. What have I even done to think I ever even had a chance? With someone as amazing as Makoto, you'd live so happily_…' Rin's thoughts swirled in this pattern, watching and waiting for Haru to confirm all of this. Rin knew he couldn't compare to Makoto. Makoto, the sweet, kind, patient, dorky, gentle giant, what really could you not love? Even Rin would openly admit that Makoto was a wonderful person who deserved all the happiness in the world. Rin was emotional, temperamental, impulsive, and unapproachable on _good_ days. He couldn't see anything appealing in himself, especially not compared to Makoto. He could see it in his head. Haru's face would become soft, maybe even smile, eyes glow such a beautiful blue that would never be for him when he confirmed he and Makoto were together.

He wasn't expecting Haru's face to twist into something like horror.

"Makoto and I aren't dating. Why would you…. God, he's like… the brother I never had or something. Where did you even get that idea?" Rin sat up at Haru's broken explanation, shock clear on his face.

"You're kidding… How are you two not dating?" If that was true, then…

Hope sparked in Rin's heart.

"I told you, Makoto's like family. That has never even crossed my mind. I haven't kissed anyone either since you did." (Haru's next muttered words should have been a thought only.) "You're the only one I've ever wanted to kiss."

…

…..

"What?"

Haru's eyes went wide. Oh _shit_ he hadn't meant to say that out loud. His face instantly matched Rin's hair, and he turned to hide it.

"No, Haru, tell me what you mean by that!" Rin grabbed Haru's shoulder, keeping him from going anywhere. "D-do… do you really mean that?" Haru couldn't face Rin, but he picked up something in his tone. There was surprize and disbelief, but… it also seemed faintly desperate? Haru nodded hesitantly, not trusting his voice, not willing to face Rin. The silence following felt like eternity.

"C-Can…" Haru almost flinched when Rin finally broke the silence. Rin took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "Can I… k-kiss you… now?"

Haru could have sworn he nearly got whiplash at how fast he turned to face the shark. Rin's face was darker than his hair and he wasn't looking at Haru. Both of them shuffled nervously.

"You can…. You can kiss me." Rin's head snapped up. His eyes light up in joy at Haru's answer. He couldn't help the grin spreading itself across his face. Both their faces were red, but it didn't really matter. Nervous gazes locked, crimson and azure quivering slightly in anticipation.

Slowly, Rin began to lean forward. It felt like forever before dry, slightly chapped lips met. Neither really knew what to do, but it was warm. Nice. Hesitantly, one of them (neither was sure who) moved to further mesh their lips together.

A little pressure, a little tilt, slowly, softly. Affection and eagerness, inexperience and nervousness. No teeth, no tongue. Just movement of lips together in a gentle warmth.

(Hearts beating together in mutual feeling.)

Neither realized they had closed their eyes until they finally broke apart. It felt too soon and yet so long. And they were still so close, noses just barely brushing against each other, shaky breaths heating the air between them, faces both flushed still. It was Haru who leaned forward to touch their foreheads together, hiding sapphire eyes behind closed lids. Rubies continued to take in the impossibly beautiful sight before them under hooded lids.

"Rin…" His voice was so quiet. Like if he spoke any louder, all of this (this warmth, this feeling, this person he's been wanting for so long _please don't let this all be a dream_) would shatter like fragile glass.

"Nn…?"

"I… love you…" A sharp intake of breath. "I have… for a long time now…" Fingers gently intertwine on the floor.

"I-I… Uh…" A squeeze to those fingers. "Me too… I um… for so long…"

_plip_

_plip_

"Don't cry Rin…"

"S-shut up…! I'm having too many emotions right now!"

A soft chuckle and an annoyed huff and suddenly everything that just happened was catching up to him and _oh my god he just kissed Haru and they just confessed to each other_. Rin's face was once more beet red and in shock. Oh god this was not something he thought would happen today (or ever). What now? His brain had stopped functioning and he kinda really need it right now..!

"Um… uh…" He couldn't even form a coherent _word_, let alone a f**king sentence. And Haru looked so _amused_ at him right now. Like Rin's awkwardness was a joke. Rin made something of an indignant groan and a pout and turned away redfaced from Haru, who only gave an even more amused look. Shaking his head, Haru smiled at Rin's back.

Neither of them knew what would happen from here, or what this was for certain, but they would take this slow. It hadn't been long since they healed, and everything would be new and awkward and fragile and it was possible they would be hurt again.

But, Haru was ok with that. As he gently leaned his head onto the back of Rin's shoulder, he finally, finally felt truly at peace with the world.

(Rin continued to be awkward about everything, but it was endearing, so Haru never minded it. This shy Rin was cute.

He would forever tease him about it too. Much to Rin's indignation.)

* * *

End note: As I said in my tumblr post, Not enough awkward! Bah, hope you all enjoyed my stumble through writing my first kissing scene.


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